Peru: Protesters Decry Gov’t Oil Contract with Canadian Firm

A general strike began early Wednesday morning, closing roads, ports and businesses in Loreto, in northern Peru. Strikers are protesting the concession of the nation’s richest oil field, known as Lot 192, to the transnational Pacific Exploration and Production Corporation. They blame the government for the privatization of Lot 192 and for refusing to invest in the state oil company PetroPeru. Analysts say that the state oil company has no role in the energy sector and that concepts such as energy security and sovereignty have no place in the existing neoliberal economic system. Rael Mora reports from Lima for teleSUR